help please, new little porcupine...

[toadlyawesomemom]

I'm very new to puffers and have recently obtained a small porcupine (3inches)."Moe" I currently have Moe in a 55 gal with 4 snails, 2 crabs and 2 demsels. I've had him for almost 2 weeks now, but have yet to see him eat anything. I've waived small hunks of silverslides in front of him, thats what the women at the pet shop told me she was feeding him. The first night I brought him home, I notice that I seemed to be missing a crab. Still havent found it.

How long could he possibly live if he's not eating?

help please... any advice? (give him back to the pet shop?) I don't want him to die.

his eyes look clear, his color seems fine, just seems to rest a lot. I'm feeling so inadquate....

water salinity: 0.020, nitrates: .20, ammonia: 0, temp: 78, ph: 8, nitrite: was 0 but now currently 0.1 and going down (due to just adding puffer) I have been doing frequent water changes recently, about 10%, every 2-3 days to bring nitrites down.

tank has been up for about 6 months, cycled for almost 2 months before adding damsels.

[Nick]

They eat mostly invertebrates in the wild, you might want to try mussel, clam, etc instead of fish, which they aren't quick enough to catch much of in the wild. Also, expect him to eventually eat the crabs and snails, it's kind of what puffers DO.

[toadlyawesomemom]

Eating the crabs would be fine... I just want him to eat.

[edmlfc1]

Try soaking his food in garlic. You could use fresh garlic, garlic guard by seachem or extreme garlic by kent.

[Myaj]

As far as how long they can go without eating.. weeks. Its very common for them to not want to eat when they first get settled in a new home. Just make sure the uneaten food isn't sitting and rotting, that you take it out, and keep trying every few days

Also you do know you'll need a much larger tank, right? Cute little buggars but they get big.

[Christemo]

120 gal tank.

[marksrush]

120 gal tank.

I think when people ask me what size tank they need for their puffer, I'm going to start telling them 3 times the minimum recommended size. That way maybe they'll actually buy a decent sized tank for the critter.

[Pufferpunk]

Excellent articles stickied in this forum & also in our Library.

[toadlyawesomemom]

thank you everyone...

I plan on purchasing a larger tank... I had this one and thought it would work to first start where he was so small.....

[toadlyawesomemom]

Moe ate today!!! he seems to look more at ease and even came out to watch me for a few minutes... I went out and purchased a few small crabs to have in the tank just in case he got hungry. I'M SO HAPPY!!!!!

[edmlfc1]

Yeah! Now he's going to turn into a little piggy. He will watch you with those big blue eyes and follow you and beg please please give me more food. My tummy might look huge but I'm still hungry! Don't fall for it! If his tummy is rounded he's not hungry. Glad to hear he's eating.

[j_wishbone]

I did that with mine

he ate everything but then i found the food regurgitated on the tank the next day

then i had to scoop eveyr single chewed up prawn..!

little buggah!

hahah

[LilGreenPuffer]

So, is the salinity really 0.020? I was pretty darned sure that these guys are saltwater!

[Nick]

Some people run saltwater tanks down as low as that, to save on salt, since the fish don't seem to mind much and skimmers work down even a bit below that.

[toadlyawesomemom]

yes, I originally had the salinity at 0.022 / 0.023, but was told that I should run it at 20 ????? so I reduced it....

will Moe be okay until I get home tonight to fix it????